Have you ever wondered if there is something more to life than juggling your busy schedule day after day? If you’re like me, you come home after work completely exhausted and wondering who else can cook the dinner tonight…Bob Evans or maybe Jason from that deli on the way home?
Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Perhaps you have been trying to find the “why” by working long hours to climb the corporate ladder or by investing your time to keep up with the Jones’s. Or maybe, like me, the perfectionist in you rears its ugly head but leaves you depleted and unfulfilled. In the search for something more, many of us come up empty and distracted.
Ultimately, our fulfillment rests not on the distractions or the ebb and flow of life’s experiences but in the hands of God. He created each one of us for a unique purpose that He ordained from the very beginning of time. Pablo Picasso reminds us, “The meaning of your life is to find your gift. The purpose of your life is to give it away.”
For some of us, discovering our purpose in life can seem like a daunting task. However, God’s Word sums up the purpose of a Christ follower with two simple assignments: to love God and to love others. He made each one of us with a unique personality and strategic skills, gifts, and talents to use in service to God and those arounds us. 2 Timothy 1:6 urges us to “stir up the gift of God which is in you.”
The LORD not only created us with one-of-a-kind gifts and talents, but He often weaves the deepest valleys of life into our God-given purpose. It was not until I found myself in a valley eight years ago that I uncovered my own. I was chasing the American dream and quickly found myself married with a beautiful house and a career in the nursing field. The world soon disappointed me when I found myself caught in the nightmare of sexual abuse by domestic violence. However, God used my darkest moments to establish the foundation for a ministry for sexually abused women. He can transform every broken area of our lives- traumatic memories, mistakes, and shortcomings- to make us whole and brand new!
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says that God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” Imagine utilizing your own valleys to speak life into the desperate woman who is walking into the very same story. She needs to hear that you have been through the trial, that you were scared, and that you are a witness to the fact that God was faithful to see you through it.
So as you juggle your busy schedule tomorrow, take the time to develop your gifts and talents. And listen for the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit as He guides you to that sister who needs to hear that there really IS Something More.
